The Miracle of Cody
Bear with me, if you will--this story is a bit intricate, but much worth the telling. This is a true story, and it just happened this very week, of Father's Day, 2011.
My husband, Brig, was married to his first wife two times, and divorced her twice (of course). Between the first divorce and second marriage to her, in 1991, he had a relationship with a woman who lived next door to him when he lived in Florence, Alabama. He was not active in the LDS Church at this time, nor was he complying with Church standards.
Not long after that relationship, he and the ex wife decided to get back together and remarry. They had one son during the first marriage (Jacob). And within the first year of the second marriage, this same wife became pregnant again (Nathan).
One day during this time, Brig came home from work and that wife informed him that he had a son next door. He went to see Ms. Rumble, the woman he'd had the relationship with, and sure enough, there was a little 11-month-old boy, who bore an almost exact resemblance to Brig's own one-year-old baby pictures.
Being responsible, he would spend time with little Cody, caring for him and getting to know him. But was told the mother did not want him involved in their lives because of the way circumstances had changed. She respected that he had gotten back together with his wife, and felt they should all just go their separate ways. Brig's little family was already planning to move to the Salt Lake area anyway at that time. But he still wanted to be involved and take responsibility for this new son, little Cody. The mother was reportedly firm in her decision.
Brig's father, Bill, asked Brig if he minded if he wrote the Rumble and Parker families (the grandparents, with whom Cody and his mother lived) a letter to encourage their case for being a part of Cody's life. It contained the desires of both father and grandfather to have a relationship with this child, and every intention of paying child support, but that they would not interfere with the mother and her parent's lives, or sue for custody--just that they wanted a relationship with this child. Cody's family stood firm in their decision, and Brig's family had finally moved by then, and before long, all contact was lost.
Over the years, as the internet developed, Brig would take time to try to find Cody. He just wanted to know that he was alright. If it were possible, he wanted Cody to know that he had thought about him and cared about him all this time, but his efforts always left him empty-handed.
When I came onto the scene in 2006, after the final divorce to that first wife, Brig informed me during our many courtship dating conversations, that he had a son out there whom he'd not seen since 1992. I was intrigued. Brig and I married in October of 2006, of full worthiness in the beautiful LDS Manti Temple. From the start, I always considered Cody to also be my son, too. One of our sealers had said, "It's no longer yours and mine--it's OURS" when it comes to our children and efforts to blend this family. Every so often, Brig or I would separately use the internet to see if we could find our Cody. I had many hopes, that once he turned 18, which would have been May of last year, he might come looking for us, and be successful. I had visions of a boy who looked like Brig in his youth, showing up at my door, and one of those soul-jerking scenes you occasionally see on T.V., happening right before our eyes. The reunion, the hugs, the tears...but to no avail. Throughout our many efforts, we just weren't able to find him.
We have been through so much financially since our marriage in 2006 (another remarkable story on its own), that we had no means to hire an investigator to help us with our search. And then there are the other issues: that you don't know just what this child has been told, or how he feels about things and you, and there are several variables about whether or not he might even want you in his life. But we had a hole in our heart, and just in case he did too, we had to keep searching.
When Facebook came along, of course we began using that avenue as well, but still to no avail.
On Saturday just a couple of weeks ago, Brig and I had attended the Jordan River Temple, where we frequently go to do work on behalf of the Lord's eternal plan. I have to mention here how often inspired events seem to happen shortly after we make sacrifices on behalf of the building up of the Lord's kingdom. Especially when it comes to family. On the short ten-minute drive home, I saw a couple we knew from the neighborhood walking down Redwood Road. For some reason this triggered my asking Brig, who had possibly more than his share of girlfriends in the past, "So...have you ever had a girlfriend as desirous of you as I?". He said, "Yes. Remember how I've told you about Cody's mom?" He had told me how when they began their relationship, he had made it clear that it would be casual--but felt she was becoming somewhat possessive (which, from my perspective, would be natural under the circumstances). He did not want to belong to anyone, and he intended to go out and do what he wanted with no strings attached. He of course wasn't active in the LDS/Mormon Church at that time, as mentioned previously, thus leaving him more prone to the temptations of the world, and their consequences.
When we got home from the temple, we changed into more comfortable clothing from our Sunday dress, and sat down to relax. I opened up my laptop, and Brig turned on the TV. Since the subject had come up once again, we decided to look for Cody one more time. When I got into Facebook, I typed in his name again, but nothing promising came up. So, I went to Google to see if there were any clues there. There were indeed at least two Cody Rumbles that showed up. One on MySpace. We got into that, and the boy's age was close, but he didn't look the fit and we realized that if he were still in high school, as this Seattle boy was, he would not be our son.
So, I got back into Facebook and put in Cody's name again. This time six people came up (silly Facebook). At the top of the list was a picture of a boy that looked like he could easily be relation to Brig. (Combining the families, we had six children between us, Cody making a seventh). I turned my laptop towards Brig, "What about this one." He got off the couch and knelt beside my reclined legs bearing the laptop (as I'd been sitting across the room, on the loveseat).
You could see the wide-eyed intrigue on Brig's face. The boy claimed Central High as his high school, and his birthday was May 5th. Brig had been left with the information that Cody's birthday was May 9th, but this was still close. We delved further. We found a sister named Megan, with red hair. Brig had remembered Cody's two little bright red-haired older sisters playing around his swimming pool all those years ago, before Cody was born. The mother wasn't on Cody's friend list, so we went to his sister's friend list. And there she was! It was conclusive--this was our long lost son!
Then Brig looked at me in somewhat shock, "Now I don't know what to do." he said. We had tears of joy and thanksgiving in our eyes. We each took a deep breath, realizing that we knew we had always wanted to find him, but what were Cody's circumstances and how might he feel about the father whom he hadn't seen all these years? It could very well be that he had moved on. Maybe another man had come into his life and done a great job of being a dad to him and he was satisfied with that. So many variables to consider. Brig decided to think and pray on it for a few days.
He soon spent father-son time with our third son, Nathan, who is 18 and not living with us. Brig told this son that we had found Cody, but made it clear we were going about things cautiously at this point. Despite our rightful wishes, the child must have gotten overly excited and sent a Facebook friend request to Cody, disregarding our intuition to go cautiously on behalf of Cody's feelings. Thankfully, the Lord still makes things work out according to His own will.
Here the story from the other side gets interesting. Cody received the request. He has been living with his grandparents, Rudy and Elayne Parker, who have loved him and raised him wonderfully and responsibly since shortly after Brig left the area, which Brig never knew about until now.
As soon as Cody saw the Facebook picture, he showed his Pa (grandfather). "Look! This boy could be my brother." Rudy knew that now it was time. He saw the last name Meyers. The story is that Rudy responded, "It probably is your brother, Cody. Your father's name is William Meyers." Brig's first name is William and he had gone by Bill at times living in the South. Cody has never known until this past week, the true name of his real father. So, though he has wanted to fill the hole in his heart, too, he had no information to even begin a search of his own. He's always wanted to know.
Cody accepted the friend request from Nate, asking cautiously, "Do I know you?". And got the response, "I'm your brother."
Amazingly, Elayne and Rudy had kept the letter from Bill and Brig all these years. Rudy then gave it to Cody, but all this was just so much to absorb, that Cody left it on the table to look over the next day.
Cody made it clear that he would love it if Brig would call him that next evening. Cody found Brig's Facebook page, and sent him a friend request. There, Brig would have his phone number from his profile.
Brig came home from work that day, opened the door wide, and I could see the bright-eyed wonder in his face. He had a contact number for his long lost son!
Although Brig works a 12-hour shift of frequent hard labor, he skipped the shower, the rest, and even dinner--making a bee-line for his computer. I went to his office with him, where he had pulled up Cody on Facebook, accepting his friend request, where he could get the phone number at the bottom of the page. He had waited 18 years for this day. He would not wait any longer. He picked up the phone, and took a deep breath and made that phone call.
"Hello" came the voice from the other end. "This is Brig Meyers." Brig responded. And conversation ensued. They talked for two hours. Brig went to bed happily and content without any dinner. But he didn't really sleep. He was so happy and excited that he only got about three hours of sleep before his next 12-hour shift. And even though he was exhausted still after the next day's work, he came home again and immediately got on the phone to talk to his son, missing dinner for a second night. (And, yes, he did get a shower in there somewhere in those 24 hours, lol.) And it's been like that every night since. But he hasn't been eating much. He described how it is so much like how when he and I met six years ago. (That's a whole other Cinderella story in itself--in fact, I've written an entire book on our story of true love and miracles, just like I'm apparently about to write another book on this story!) But it is like you're feasting on the love of this person that belongs in your life forever, because you have finally found them. It feels like God is showing His love to you, through them.
Night after night they call and talk for hours at this point. Brig puts the phone on speaker, and I fall asleep to the calm, sweet sound of my greatly endeared son's beautiful southern drawl. A heart could never be so overflowing. There have been many tears of great joy. Cody is well-grounded, a productive, strong, sound-minded young man, and we're extremely proud of what he's done and is doing with his life. We recognize God's hand in all of our lives.
Brig felt a strong sense of personal revelation while talking to one of his own sisters during this time, about how things were as they should be, because Cody would not have been able to be raised in the stability and better influence Rudy and Elayne provided, had he been raised in Brig's first marriage, which had never been stable and finally ended for good.
Things are as they should be, but thank the Lord we don't have to go any longer without Cody in our lives.
We have angels to thank, for their whisperings in Jacquelyn's ear after leaving the temple, and she blesses her decision to follow those promptings, as well as Cody's girlfriend at the time, who had been encouraging him to open a Facebook account. No one can tell me that Facebook has no value--to us, this social media has meant everything. These two things made this relationship finally reunite.
How we long to hug this son. How I long for him to feel my love in person for the first time, and give him a mother's hug. How Brig longs to finally throw his arms around this wonderful strapping lad once again, now grown to nearly his same size, where the holes of all hearts are being filled.
Finally.
Surely no one has been having a better Father's Day this year than we!
~Jacquelyn J. Meyers
Update June 2012: Due to paying for a replacement for a broken-down furnace that year, we were not in a good financial position to go see Cody in person, but decided the sacrifices still needed to be made, so that the relationships could be solidified. We flew to Alabama, being hosted most charmingly by Cody's wonderful grandparents, spending a most wonderful week enjoying the sights of the area with Cody, as well as several wonderful evenings in his home, which to our great joy included Elayne's delightsome Southern cooking, and Cody playing and singing along to popular country music on his guitar with his adorable friends.
Last Christmas, Brig's dad Bill flew Cody out for the family reunion Christmas party. The timing was also perfect for him to join my Jardine family in our yearly sub-for-Santa events, where Cody and his girlfriend were our star delivery elves. This month, our eldest son, Jacob, is coming out from Australia. Jacob and Cody have not met since Jacob was a toddler, and would not have remembered each other.
Update August 2014: Having not seen our son for two years, we felt it necessary to make the sacrifices to fly him out to Utah again, mostly so father and son can make up for lost time from not being together in the past. Cody repeatedly thanked us for the experiences he was finally able to have with us--we had magical bonding experiences, that we can only thank the Lord for. Cody continues to make us proud, as he is in college for an electrical engineering type of licensure. He's our inspiration!
One more update, and this one with sorrow: Cody was found deceased in his room on May 30, 2020, from suspected complications from brain injuries from an accident just after he returned home to Alabama after our last visit in 2014. All are filled with sorrow over this loss, but we testify of the Lord in all of our lives. We have HOPE in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in all beings of this earth for whom He died, so that we can ALL have eternal life and be together in the eternities. Until we meet again, Sweet Cody. 
